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NaNoWriMo

zaika

One Too Many
Messages
1,480
Location
Portlandia
nyx said:
I am stuck. I've been stuck at 6500 for about 2 days now. I HATE my story, but don't want to start over. Any advice?

I hate my story as well. It's really stupid. But that's the whole point! This is a time for those of us who have a hard time finishing a story to just sit down and write...no matter what comes out. Bad grammar, bad spelling, poorly constructed paragraphs, vapid characters, nonsensical plot...whatever. lol
My advice would be...keep going. You can always go back and edit once you have everything down. Besides, no one is going to read it at this stage, right? This is for you! Besides...how many times have you gone back to your other writing that you may have dismissed as tripe, only to find that there were some bits that now stand out? I do that all the time and it actually inspires me to keep writing.
Well...now I'm rambling.
Hmm...maybe I should heed my own advice... :eek:
 

nyx

One of the Regulars
Messages
268
Location
Cincinnati, OH
zaika said:
I hate my story as well. It's really stupid. But that's the whole point! This is a time for those of us who have a hard time finishing a story to just sit down and write...no matter what comes out. Bad grammar, bad spelling, poorly constructed paragraphs, vapid characters, nonsensical plot...whatever. lol
My advice would be...keep going. You can always go back and edit once you have everything down. Besides, no one is going to read it at this stage, right? This is for you! Besides...how many times have you gone back to your other writing that you may have dismissed as tripe, only to find that there were some bits that now stand out? I do that all the time and it actually inspires me to keep writing.
Well...now I'm rambling.
Hmm...maybe I should heed my own advice... :eek:

Good point. I guess my issue with hating my story is that I can't think of anything to continue it. That's where my roadblock is. I guess I could have aliens land and kidnap the main character and drop him off in the prehistoric past, where he can fight dinosaurs...
 

sweetfrancaise

Practically Family
Messages
568
Location
Southern California
nyx said:
Good point. I guess my issue with hating my story is that I can't think of anything to continue it. That's where my roadblock is. I guess I could have aliens land and kidnap the main character and drop him off in the prehistoric past, where he can fight dinosaurs...

I'm not NaNoWriMoing it this month, 'cause of time constraints with school, but I can put two cents in and say that whenever I get to this point with whatever story I'm writing, I find that it's because I need something to happen, a turning point, a character mishap. Murder on the corner by the neighborhood maniac who likes to dress in full Vegas showgirl costume despite being eighty years old.

That sort of thing. :p

And zaika, I'm SURE...no, POSITIVE that you're story will be brilliant.
 

Jack Scorpion

One Too Many
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1,097
Location
Hollywoodland
nyx said:
Good point. I guess my issue with hating my story is that I can't think of anything to continue it. That's where my roadblock is. I guess I could have aliens land and kidnap the main character and drop him off in the prehistoric past, where he can fight dinosaurs...


I was stuck at 3,000. It was blasphemous of me to do so, but I DID go back. I thought hard for a bit and then really developed a past for my main character. Then I went back to what I'd written and added a bunch of clues/monologues about the main character's past. I find, when my main character has a developed life history and past few years in the subtext, the character will drive the story forward and make it easier on me.

Or you can add the random new element, which I do, too! (But I usually feel bad about myself when I do.)
 

zaika

One Too Many
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1,480
Location
Portlandia
nyx said:
Good point. I guess my issue with hating my story is that I can't think of anything to continue it. That's where my roadblock is. I guess I could have aliens land and kidnap the main character and drop him off in the prehistoric past, where he can fight dinosaurs...

lol lol lol

...that may not be a bad idea. :D

i agree with sweetfraincaise, though...maybe throwing the proverbial wrench into the cogs might shake things up a bit.
 

Jack Scorpion

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1,097
Location
Hollywoodland
Lady Day said:
I was just about to post something on this! lol

Im at 29000+ now whooo hoo me! There are some passages Im not too keen on, but its like sketching, you refine later.

How is everyone else doing?

LD


...

Yah, I'm at about 5,000. I don't worry too much, because I know I can write 10K in a night, but I'm definitely starting to doubt myself this year. Thanks for making me feel better about myself, LD. You're the worst. Keep up the good work.
 

zaika

One Too Many
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1,480
Location
Portlandia
sweetfrancaise said:
And zaika, I'm SURE...no, POSITIVE that you're story will be brilliant.

i wish there was a blush smiley...:eek: you're too nice, sweetfrancaise!
with a ton more work...it could reach 'mildly amusing.'
 

zaika

One Too Many
Messages
1,480
Location
Portlandia
Jack Scorpion said:
...

Yah, I'm at about 5,000. I don't worry too much, because I know I can write 10K in a night, but I'm definitely starting to doubt myself this year. Thanks for making me feel better about myself, LD. You're the worst. Keep up the good work.

don't feel bad!! i'm only at 7,300....or there abouts.
LD is superhuman...that's all. lol
i jest....
 

nyx

One of the Regulars
Messages
268
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Jack Scorpion said:
...

Yah, I'm at about 5,000. I don't worry too much, because I know I can write 10K in a night, but I'm definitely starting to doubt myself this year. Thanks for making me feel better about myself, LD. You're the worst. Keep up the good work.


I agree. Well done, LD. :p Now I must drown my writer's block in some vodka. I'm sure I'll catch up to you after that...
 

Lady Day

I'll Lock Up
Bartender
Messages
9,087
Location
Crummy town, USA
zaika said:
LD is superhuman...that's all. lol
i jest....


No I just have a job where I sit in front of a computer all evening with no internet access; just a word processing app.
I also have a lot of outlines already scripted. Just need all the filler.

And Jack, I love you too.

LD
 

zaika

One Too Many
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1,480
Location
Portlandia
woo hoo!!!!! i broke 10K today!! if i can do 5,000 this week, i'll be a lot farther along than i have ever been. yay! :D
 

missmelly

One of the Regulars
Messages
206
Location
Portland, OR
Ha! I found the secret to beating this NaNo thing; write 4 stories all at the same time. I have my unfinished story from last year, and then three other stories I have been casually thinking about over the years. I get bored with one, I just start on another. The problem is keeping the character names straight. I found the solution to that too; make the character names the same in all 4 stories. They all have no similarity between them as you can tell by their titles...

-Four Reasons
-The Worry Fur
-The Christmas Turtle
-Romans are from Mars, Greeks are from Bulgaria

Alas, I'm only at a 6000+ word count so far but now that I have discovered the 4-story secret. I'm sure I'll be over the 50K goal Thursday by 3pm. [huh] As you can see I'm going a little nutty. Too many nights laying awake thinking of clever and pithy things to say.
I'm darthmaulanie if anybody wants to add me as a writing buddy.
Happy scribbling!
.:Miss Melly:.
 

Ada Veen

Practically Family
Messages
923
Location
London
I'm doing terribly... I haven't written anything except an essay on the philosophy of science for college :(
maybe I can flesh it out into a (very boring) novel...
 

zaika

One Too Many
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1,480
Location
Portlandia
Ada Veen said:
I'm doing terribly... I haven't written anything except an essay on the philosophy of science for college :(
maybe I can flesh it out into a (very boring) novel...

aw! what if you did a freewrite? would that help jump start the ol' creative juices?
 

Jack Scorpion

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1,097
Location
Hollywoodland
|'m still at 5K. But I'm staying in tonight. I'm sacrificing my Friday night to the writing gods, so hopefully that'll give me at least another 5.

Now I just need the blood spilt from Friday night's neck to rain down on me as I chant. Hmmm.
 

zaika

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1,480
Location
Portlandia
Jack Scorpion said:
|'m still at 5K. But I'm staying in tonight. I'm sacrificing my Friday night to the writing gods, so hopefully that'll give me at least another 5.

Now I just need the blood spilt from Friday night's neck to rain down on me as I chant. Hmmm.


i'll be sending you some good thoughts to help. anyone who sacrifices their friday night deserves success. :D
 

zaika

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1,480
Location
Portlandia
12,770.

i only need about 2224 more to reach my goal for day 9. i think i can, i know i can. but, boy, are my characters getting dumb and my plot is disappearing before my eyes.

last year or the year before i reached 14K and the end of the month. to reach 12K in the first week and a half is a new record for me.

here's to a continued 1667/day.
 

zaika

One Too Many
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1,480
Location
Portlandia
just checking in to see how everyone's doing. have you lost steam yet?

i'll admit that i haven't been able to sit down and write since friday. :eek: i'm waaaay behind!

only 17 days left!! :D
 

zaika

One Too Many
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1,480
Location
Portlandia
LOL. by the overwhelming response yesterday, i take ya'll are either busily working, unlike me, or have given up. ;)
 

Dixon's Dame

Familiar Face
Messages
64
Location
San Bernardino California
Oops! Just found this thread, or I would have jumped in sooner! I'm doing nano again this year. I'm Fencer over there. Working on a fantasy novel that combines an alt. WWII background with magic, and not the Harry Potter kind either. Cruising along so far, a little behind where I should be for word count at this point, but the weekend's coming!

Good luck to all participants!
 

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